If music be the food of love, play on! The Nashville Shakespeare Festival will perform the charming comedy Twelfth Night as part of its Winter Shakespeare series. The production that runs Jan. 8-31 is directed by Executive Artistic Director Denice Hicks with an original score composed and performed by Rolin Mains. For the first time, the festival’s […]

You might say Los Angeles-based performer Lexy Baeza has been preparing for years to play the title character in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical; at the age of eight she played Toto in a production of The Wizard of Oz and more recently was John Darling (as well as an understudy for the role […]

As we give thanks today we know Christmas is coming. That means many things, but one of the best things about the holiday season in Nashville is the beloved annual presentation of A Christmas Story by Nashville Repertory Theatre. And we’re thankful that tradition resumes Friday with a preview performance and runs through Dec. 21 at Tennessee Performing […]

What else can a reviewer write about that awesome musical The Book of Mormon? At least a few tons in word-weight have been deservedly heaped on this theatrical-satirical hysterical-comical (and not-so-secretly sweet) smash since it arrived on Broadway with a multi-award-winning thunderclap more than three years ago. Now the national tour (more precisely, the second national tour […]

In his excellent book The Path of Least Resistance: Learning to Become the Creative Force in Your Own Life, author Robert Fritz explains that human beings, like water, will naturally follow the path of least resistance, and that the only way to change the path of a river is to change the direction of the riverbed. […]

FRANKLIN, Tenn. – Studio Tenn Theatre Company debuts a new Christmas production this year, combining the cherished nostalgia of an iconic screen classic with the magic and immediacy of live theater – It’s A Wonderful Life runs Dec. 4-21 at Jamison Hall in The Factory at Franklin. A first for Studio Tenn, this production replaces A […]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Actors Theatre of Louisville Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein today announced the lineup for the 39th Humana Festival of New American Plays. A highlight of the cultural calendar for theatergoers, playwrights and industry professionals across the country, the Humana Festival runs March 4 through April 12, 2015. This year’s festival program […]

In the grand setting of Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s Jackson Hall that one brief shining moment glows again with a Camelot that’s about story and not star power of more than one stripe. T.H. White’s “The Once and Future King” provided an excellent source for Alan Jay Lerner’s book, his lyrics and Frederick Loewe’s score […]

Welcome back to the Music City, Chicago. You still know how to razzle-dazzle us. This is the fourth time the tour of the John Kander/Fred Ebb/Bob Fosse megahit musical has hit Tennessee Performing Arts Center, but the first appearance in Jackson Hall since May 2005. And it still has all that jazz. Why? Well, it’s […]

John O’Hurley (“Seinfeld“) and colleagues are giving Nashville that ole razzle-dazzle this week as the four-decade hit musical Chicago plays Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s Jackson Hall. Tickets (starting at just $25) are available at TPAC.org, by phone at (615) 782-4040 and at the TPAC Box Office (505 Deaderick St.) in downtown Nashville. For group tickets please […]

The Belmont Theatre and Dance Department has arranged quite a treat for lovers of dance and movies: on Oct. 24 and 25 Patricia Ward Kelly, Gene Kelly’s wife and biographer, will take Troutt Theater guests behind the scenes to share an intimate portrait of the man that changed the look of dance on film forever and […]

Nashville Repertory Theatre has returned to London with a wickedly wonderful revival of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street that is well worth another trip. The complicated words and notes of Stephen Sondheim’s delicious dark confection (sharpened to a razor’s edge by Hugh Wheeler’s devilishly delightful book) are once again served up by […]

FRANKLIN, Tenn. – Boiler Room Theatre (BRT) opens the second show of its 14th season with the frothy, fun and energetic hit Legally Blonde the Musical that plays Tuesday through Saturday at historic Franklin Theatre with a cast led by Franklin native Laura L. Thomas. The opening performance of Legally Blonde this Tuesday (Sept. 30) is already sold out. Tickets are going fast […]

Tennessee Repertory Theatre is now Nashville Repertory Theatre. The name change was announced today at a party in the Emma Bistro Cafe celebrating the group’s three decades as Music City’s flagship Equity theater company and the 2014-15 season that begins in October with Sweeney Todd. And with the new name there’s a new web address for the troupe: […]

When doing a stage musical based on a beloved film it makes sense to not fix what isn’t broken. The creative folks behind Once certainly understood that when they adapted the 2007 film; adding two more songs from original “Guy” and “Girl” Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová to the theater version, plus a book by […]

The Actors’ Gang has produced many highly acclaimed theatrical works since Tim Robbins (a multi-talented artist who won an Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his role in the film Mystic River) founded the troupe in 1981. That rapturous response may stem from the sincerity with which the company approaches the plays they perform, according […]

Street Theatre Company brings the classic rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar to musical life as part of its acclaimed In Concert series beginning this Friday. The beloved theatrical brainchild of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber (with lyrics from Tim Rice) tells the well-known Gospel story from the unique perspective of Judas Iscariot and explores the human side of Jesus’ […]

FRANKLIN, Tenn. – For the past 50 years Fiddler on the Roof has delighted and touched the hearts of audiences the world over. Now as the new theater season dawns Studio Tenn Theatre Company pays tribute with its own fresh take on one of musical theater’s most enduring shows starting Thursday and running through Sept. 21 in Studio […]

Add another very distinguished award-winning playwright to the impressive list of Ingram New Works Fellows at Tennessee Repertory Theatre. Donald Margulies‘ plays include Brooklyn Boy, Time Stands Still, Dinner with Friends, Sight Unseen, Collected Stories, The Loman Family Picnic, God Of Vengeance, The Model Apartment, What’s Wrong with this Picture?, and Found a Peanut. Among […]

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Belmont University is celebrating more than just the holidays this weekend. On Saturday night, the university presented its annual “Christmas at Belmont” for the first time in its new McAfee Concert Hall. Every note performed inside this acoustically marvelous new venue resonated with the clarity of a sleigh bell. Saturday’s program served as a showcase […]

The well-coiffed one was in Nashville on Thursday night. I’m talking about pianist Sean Chen, who was in town to present Belmont University’s annual Woods Piano Concert Series at McAfee Concert Hall. A 24-year-old California native, Chen made news in June, when he became the first American pianist in 16 years to advance to the […]

Tennessee Repertory Theatre is now Nashville Repertory Theatre. The name change was announced today at a party in the Emma Bistro Cafe celebrating the group’s three decades as Music City’s flagship Equity theater company and the 2014-15 season that begins in October with Sweeney Todd. And with the new name there’s a new web address for the troupe: […]

Nashville Children’s Theatre (NCT) begins its 81st season Sept. 13 with Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure – a gripping mystery by Steven Dietz, one of America’s top contemporary playwrights. Producing a script like Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure for older audiences is an exhilarating opportunity for NCT, according to a news release. The theatre embraces the chance […]

Soprano Amy Jarman devoted her entire program Tuesday night at the Blair School of Music to songs featuring the poetry and prose of women. It seemed like a fitting gesture. March, after all, is National Women’s History Month. The program, expertly accompanied by pianist Jerome Reed, featured the writings of six notable women, spanning chronologically from Goethe’s […]

“It’s not about what you have. It’s not about how you dress. It’s not about the language you speak. It’s about music.” So proclaimed La Excelencia at the beginning of their second Nashville performance. The concert was held as part of Vanderbilt’s 2012-13 Great Performances season on Friday, Oct. 12 at Ingram Hall. La Excelencia, […]

Lipscomb University’s HumanDocs Film Series presents a free screening of the Academy Award-nominated documentary The Invisible War, a film that takes a shocking look at the epidemic of sexual assault in the U.S. military, just three days after the Oscars ceremony. The screening begins at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday (Feb. 27) in Ward Hall on […]

A suave and sophisticated British-born maestro is leading the Nashville Symphony Orchestra in its classical series concerts this weekend at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Christopher Seaman, the director emeritus of upstate New York’s Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, is conducting a program devoted entirely to Mozart masterpieces. Seaman is an outstanding interpreter of this music, and his […]

With awards season in full swing the Belcourt Theatre will soon present Oscar Picks. It’s an assortment of 2013 Academy Award-nominated films as well as selected Best Picture Winners from past years. Oscar Picks runs from Jan. 25-Feb. 23 and includes many of this year’s nominated films in various categories: Best Picture nominees Beasts of […]

Visiting Jessika Malone at Nashville Children’s Theatre to talk about Sideshow @ Actors Bridge’s latest show is a little like being guided through Wonderland by Alice. The young actress, director and company front-woman sparkles with enthusiasm for She Kills Monsters, which opens today. Qui Nguyen’s play tells the tale of Agnes Evans, who is leaving her hometown […]

Christian Youth Theater Nashville will hold an information meeting this week to present its programs – which the organization says have the goal of providing a safe, fun, and encouraging environment for children to learn about theater arts – to parents in the region. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. this Friday (Feb. 22) at […]

The return – after more than a decade – of David Alford and Paul Carrol Binkley’s much-loved rendition of Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” to Belmont Mansion is a highlight of this year’s Christmas Down Home tour. The collection of yuletide stories, memories and music features actor/director/writer Alford (who now plays Bucky Dawes on the […]

The music of German composer Richard Wagner and French composer Maurice Ravel would seem to go together like a mixture of sauerkraut and crème brûlée. Wagner’s heavy Teutonic music dramas have little in common with Ravel’s elegantly refined, classically proportioned works. And never mind that most French composers of Ravel’s generation despised Wagner and his […]

FRANKLIN, Tenn. – The Coen Brothers meet Mark Twain in Studio Tenn’s version of Roger Miller’s Tony Award-winning musical Big River. The show docks at Franklin Theatre from Feb. 21 to March 3. This production provides Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” set to music and lyrics by the legendary Miller – including such notable songs […]

Street Theatre Company opened its run of Miss Saigon Wednesday to a packed house. The show is presented in a minimal concert-style; there are no sets, minimal costumes, and the chorus sits on stage behind the lead actors. With such sparse staging, the production relies entirely on the strength of the actors and their voices. […]

The Nashville Film Festival, presented by Nissan, today announced a partnership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a three-day Celebration of Kurdish films at NaFF 2013. Twenty filmmakers and dignitaries from the Northern Iraq region of Kurdistan will present Kurdish films in multiple events April 19, 20 and 21. The events, […]

The caring and compassionate artists at The Theater Bug – from Artistic Director Cori Anne Laemmel to very young performers – look at the needs, wants, hopes and dreams of children and their families in their programs. Today (Jan. 30) they open Oddly Puddle is from Inner Space, which centers on a non-verbal boy’s world, […]

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake may well be the quintessential classical ballet. This sumptuous spectacle seemingly has everything a balletic bird watcher could want: beautiful ballerinas in snow white tutus; a fairy tale prince and heartless villain; and, of course, the famed Russian composer’s hyperemotional score. But what most recommends Nashville Ballet’s current production is […]

The Belcourt Theatre is the site for a screening of the acclaimed documentary Living for 32 on Tuesday, Sept. 24 as Colin Goddard, survivor of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, joins the Tennessee chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America for the event. Goddard will join a group of local gun violence […]